Road grader



C. J. MORlTZ ROAD GRADER Oct. 25, 1932.

Filed June 18, 1930 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 I EJJQTLtOW (l/zadeajflfmu'z 16, M

C. J. MORlTZ Oct. 25, 1932.

ROAD GRADER 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 18, 1930 Oct. 25, 1932. c, MORITZ 1,884,113

ROAD GRADER Filed June 18, 1930 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Oct. 25, 1932 UNITED STATES CHARLESRT. MORITZ,'OF EFFINGHAM, ILLINOIS ROAD GRADER' Application filed June 18,

form the. same grading operation, it is found that certain machines perform the operation more elficiently than others because they have been designed for operation under particular' conditions. I have designed andmarketed a grading machine for a number of years in the form of a wheeled carriage adaptedto ride on 'a finished roadway, and carrying a mold-board unit at the side adapted to operate on the road shoulder, thefinished road- Way on which the carriage travels serving as a guide for the grading operations on the shoulder. In connection with this type of machine, I have made many improvements and refer to, my Patent No. 1,672,497 and my 7 2 co-pending application, Serial No. 369,086,

' filed June 7 1929. The features shown in my prior patent and co-pending applicationare of considerable value and'have enabled, me to sell large number of'machines, but I find such features capable of improvement, particularly since I have increased the usefulness and range of operations of my machine.

Accordingly,'one of the principal objects of my, present invention is the production of an improved road shoulder machine.

7 Another object is the provision of a road shoulder machine having amold-bo ard capable of being adjusted through a range of positions while operating on the road shoul- 4 der.

Another object is to improve the adjust ment of the projecting mold-board unit of a road shoulder machine.

r Other objects andfeatures' of my invention I '49 will bev apparent from a consideration of the 1930. Serial No. 461,860.

following detailed description taken with the accompanying drawings, wherein.

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the complete-machine; j

' Fig.2 is a fragmentary enlarged elevation, al view showing the rear of the mold-boar unit;

Fig. v3 is a fragmentary sectional 'view showing means for controlling the transverse pitch of the mold-board;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view'taken through the blade;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken through the mountingcolumnto which the mold-board is attached; I

Fig. 6 is a sectional view line 6-6 of Fig: 1.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary plan sectional view; Fig. 8 is a fragmentary enlarged sectional view. I

' The grader of my invention includes a wheeled'carriage and a mold-board unit B, the mold-board unit being supported at the side of the carriage frame, and the carriage adapted to move along a finished highway which serves as a guide.

Briefly, the carriage includes a framework 10 having rear wheels 11 and front steerable wheels 12 operated through suitable connections by a steering gear-13. A bolster 14, 75 disposedtransversely of the frame intermetaken along the diate the wheels, acts as a support for the mold-boardin'a manner hereinafter set out. A transverse member 16, forming a part of the frame, extends beyond the carriage at the front thereof and has connected thereto a draw-bar 17 adapted to pull directly upon the mold-board assembly, as will be shown. The carriage is power drawn from a coupling including a pair of members 18 and'19, which equalize thework of the tractor in such a way as to prevent possible rotatory movement of the carriage about a vertical axis.

. More particularly now, with respect to the mounting of the mold-board assembly, the I block 37 is interiorly threaded onto a vertibolster 14 is in the form of a truss frame, the outer extension 14a of which is higher than the balance of the bolster and includes a pair of members 21 and 22 between which a bracket 23 is mounted on a bolt 24, the mounting being so arranged that the bracket pivots about the bolt 24. Bracket 23 has a central opening 26 in which a column 27 is reciprocally mounted and which serves to support the mold-board in a manner to be described.

At the bottom of the column or post 27, a mounting bracket 28 is secured having a pair of side extensions 28a to which the moldboard, through angles 29, is pivotally secured. Immediately above the mounting bracket 28, a draw-bar collar 31 surrounds the column 27 and is pivotally connected at 32 to the draw-bar 17. The draw-bar 17 is pivoted at its forward end to the side extension 16. This permits the mold-board to be pulled directly by the draw-bar, independent of its elevation.

As previously implied, the entire moldboard assembly is capable of adjustment,

5 either directly vertically, or transversely tiltably. I shall now refer to the means for accomplishing these adjustments. The bracket 23 is provided with a pair of furcations 33 and 34, each of which is provided with tines 33a and 34a, extending above and below projections 36 on a block 37 The cal screw 38 carried by the bolster and adapted to be turned in either direction by a handwheel 39. Turning of the wheel advances the block 37 either upwardly or downwardly on the screw 38, and the bifurcated portion of the bracket 23 moves with the block, due to the engagement of the projections 36 by the tines 33a and 34a; This movement of the bifurcated portion of the bracket 23 rotates the bracket about the bolt 24 and this in turn causes a corresponding tilting movement of the entire column 27. The tilting movement of the column 27, of course, carries the entire mold-board assembly and so adjusts the transverse pitch of the mold-board.

To secure bodily vertical movement of the mold-board assembly, I provide an adjusting screw 41, threaded in an extension 42a of a collar 42, carried at the top of the post or column 27. This screw 41 has an unthreaded portion 41a extending through a projection 43 on the bracket 23. Above the extension 43, the screw has an enlarged bearing portion 41b engaging the top of the extension, while below the extension the bottom surface is engaged by a spring 44 held on the unth'readed portion of the screw by a collar 46. A screw 41 is turned by a hand-wheel 47 and this serves to move the extension 42a of the collar 42 in a vertical direction along the screw 41, which is held in fixed position with respect to the bracket 23. The spring 44 is sufiiciently heavy to hold the mold-board assembly in a lower position under normal conditions, particularly since it is aided by the entire weight of the mold-board assembly. However, in case of any unusual obstruction, and the mold-board is forced upwardly, the spring 44 will give and allow the upward movement without causing breakages to occur.

I wish to call attention to the wing extension 48 on the outside edge of the mold-board and the improved means for controlling the angle thereof with respect to the mold-board. The wing extension is pivoted to the outer end of the mold-board by a bolt 49. To reduce strain on the bolt 49, a reinforcing member 011 the back of the wing extension in the form of an angle iron 51 extends beyond the pivot and has a portion 51a adapted to engage the mold-board.

For adjusting the wing extension, I provide a lever 52 pivoted to the mold-board at 53 and connected to an arm 54 carried by the wing extension by means of a link 56. In or der to hold the lever 52 in the position to which it is adjusted, an arcuate frame 57 is secured to the mold-board with a plurality of apertures 58 with which a pin59, carried by the arm 52, is adapted to engage. At the opposite side of the arcuate frame 57 from the lever 52 is a bearing plate 65 carrying pins 60 extending above and below the frame 57, and through apertures in the lever. Beyond the lever are springs 70, compressed between the lever and heads 60a of the pins, normally tending to hold the pin 59 in engagement with an aperture 58 in the frame, but permitting its withdrawal when the adjustment of the wing cutter is to be altered.

. The mold board is adjusted bodily about the column 27 as a pivot and is arranged to be held in the proper adjusted position about such column as a pivot. To this purpose an arcuate frame 61 is provided having extensions 62 and 63 pivotally engaging the mold-board. Brackets 64-64 and 6666, carried by the mold board, are disposed at opposite sides of the extensions 62 and 63, and pintles 67 are provided between the brackets and extensions 62 and 63 to effect said pivotal connection. The draw-bar 17 has a pair of brackets 68 at opposite sides of the arcuate frame, and a pin 69, extending through the brackets, engages any one of a number of openings 71 in the arcuate'frame.

In order to adjust the forward pitch of the mold-board, such mold-board is pivotally mounted by a number of pivots, heretofore referred to, all in longitudinal alignment. The mold-board itself carries a pair of locking brackets 72 provided with apertures 73, into which bolts 74 are adapted to extend, such bolts also extending through suitable apertures carried by the'extensions 62 and 63 of the arcuate frame. The aperture 73 being arcuately disposed about a point of pivot of the mQId board, any selected one of such apertures may be engaged with the bolt 7 4 and so the forward pitch of the mold-board definitely determined.

In a shoulder machine of this character, it is advantageous to have the operator as close to the work as possible. I have provided an improved feature in this connection in the form of a platform 76, mounted on brackets 77-7 7 carried by the arcuate frame. With this arrangement, it is obvious that the operator may stand directly behind the mold-board in a position where all of the adjustments are within easy reach, and the platform will remain at all times in a position convenient for the operators use.

Among the advantages of my present construction is the positive character of the control movements imparted to the mold board. Each movement of the mold board, whether transversely tiltable, bodily vertical, or about a vertical axis is positive and does not depend upon the weight of the mold board assembly in any way. The wing cutter is positively but easily controlled and its adjustment remains the same independent of the movement. The operator, standing on the platform immediately to the rear of the mold board, has all of the mold board controls, including the adjustment of the wing cutter, within easy reach, and can gauge accurately, at all times, the amount of adjustment to be made.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent is 1. In a road shoulder machine, a wheeled carriage, a bolster having side extension, a bracket pivotally secured to said extension, a mold board disposed below thebracket, a screw rotatably secured in the bolster extension, a block threaded on said screw and adapted to be advanced in either direction along the screw by turning thereof, and an extension of said bracket engaging the block whereby movement of said block tilts the bracket to impart transverse tiltable movement to the mold board.

2. In a road shoulder machine, a wheeled carriage adapted to travel on a road surface, a transverse bolster having a side extension, a bracket carried by said side extension with a vertical circular opening therein, a vertical column disposed in said opening, a mold board secured at the base of said column, a forward extension of said bracket, and a screw having an unthreaded portion journalled in said forward extension, a collar on the column, and a means for forming a threaded engagement between the collar and screw whereby turning of said screw imparts a vertical movement to said column.

3. In a road shoulder machine, 'a wheeled carriage adapted to travel on a road surface, a transverse bolster having a side extension, a bracket carried by said side extension with a vertical circular opening therein, a vertical columm-disposed in said opening, 1 a mold board secured at the base of said column, a forward extension of said bracket, and a screw having an unthreaded portion journalledin'said. forward extension, a collar on thecolumn, and'a means for forming a threaded engagement betweenthe collar and screw whereby turning of said screw imparts alvertical movementto said column, and means for tilting the bracket sidewise in either. direction to impart. transverse tilting I movement to the mold board.

45. 'In' a road shoulder machine, a wheeled carriage, a side extension on said carriage, a bracket pivoted on said side extension and having side and front projections and a vertical circular opening, a column slidably supported in said circular opening, a screw journalled in said side extension, a block threaded on the screw, means on the side projection engaging said block whereby movement of said screw tilts said bracket about its pivot, second screw having an unthreaded portion journalled in the front projection of said bracket, and means connected with the column and threaded on said screw whereby turning said second screw moves said column bodily vertically in said bracket.

5. In a road shoulder machine, a wheeled carriage, a side extension on said carriage,

a bracket pivoted on said side extension and having side and front projections and a vertical circular opening, a column slidably supported in said circular opening, a screw j ournalled in said side extension, a block threaded on the screw, means on the side projection engaging said block whereby movement of said screw tilts said bracket about the pivot, a second screw having an unthreaded portion journalled in the front projection of said bracket, and means connected with the column and threaded on said screw whereby turning said second screw moves said column a bodily vertically in said bracket and spring means provided on the unthreaded portion of said screw for normally preventing axial upward movement of the screw and column,

but permitting such movement when the mold board meets an unusual obstruction.

6. In a road shoulder machine, a wheeled carriage adapted to travel on a finished road surface, a mold board projecting at the side of the carriage for operating on the road shoulder, a platform supported by the mold board immediately behind the mold board and means for adjusting the vertical position of the mold board with respect to the car'- riage, and separate means for adjusting the angular position of the mold board, both of said adjusting means being operable from said platform.

' 7. In a road shoulder machine, a wheeled V carriage adapted to travel on a finished road 1 surface, a side extension thereon intermediate the wheels, a mold boa-rd assembly supported by said side extension, 9. second side extension from the carriage in advance of said mold board supporting extension, a draw bar extending from said advance extension to the mold board, an arouate frame with extensions engaging the mold board and adjustably connected with the draw bar, and an operators platform carried by the extensions of said arcuate frame. 1 In Witness whereof, I hereunto subscrib my name this 16th day of June, 1930.

CHARLES J. MORITZ. 

